'Sad Day For Fair Lawn': GOP Council Candidate On Nabisco Closure

FAIR LAWN, NJ — Republican council candidates Cindy Montano and Glen Callons have joined the chorus of local voices marking Friday the end of an era in Fair Lawn.

Mondelez, the company which owns the Fair Lawn Nabisco plant, ceased proudction operations at the end of last week, meaning the last Oreo cookies have been produced locally. Read more: Fair Lawn Nabisco Plant To Bake Last Cookies Friday. What's Next?

"This is a truly sad day for Fair Lawn. The loss of 600 good jobs is devastating. Along with those impacted families, the economic ripple effect on our community, the businesses that served the plant, and their employees will also be hard," said council candidate Glen Callons.

Fellow GOP candidate Cindy Montano has a personal connection to the closure, as she was once a Mondelez employee.

"As a former Mondelez employee who lives in Fair Lawn and has visited the Nabisco plant, it saddens me to see the departure of the company and 600 jobs from our town. I am committed to doing what I can to advise and connect our small business owners with resources that they need to not only recover from the pandemic but now the departure of Mondelez as well," said Montano.

News of a summer closure was first announced in February, with officials citing an outdated facility and consolidation of production as reasons. Read more: Nabisco Plant In Fair Lawn To Close In 2021

Since then, local businesses and officials have been hard at work trying to find new employment for the more than 600 people who will be out of a job. According to Mayor Kurt Peluso, 18 businesses have contacted the township with employment opportunities for former Mondelez workers.

But replacing the smell, and the job source, will be a mountainous task.

"We are going to miss the smell of fresh baked cookies that equates to hundreds of jobs," said Peluso.

"Our focus over these last few months has been on finding jobs for these employees who will be unemployed, even though they worked tirelessly during the peak of the pandemic."

Another question that remains is what will happen to the property, valued at $29.3 million, according to Northjersey.com.

Mondelez officials said they are currently communicating with interested parties and that a number of them have submitted bids.

"The Real Estate process is underway related to the sale of the property. The team is working with those interested buyers who have submitted bids, and will be taking next steps to choose the buyer and proceed with the process in a timely manner," said Laurie Guzzinati, the Mondelez senior director of corporate and government affairs North America.

With no timetable coming into focus, Peluso and the borough will wait for a deal to be struck but are open to whatever business wants to operate in Fair Lawn.

"We look forward to welcoming a new business to our community when the time comes," he said.

Callons, a life-long Fair Lawn residents, said the closure of Fair Lawn represented a harrowing time in the community.

"I have never seen a time with so much uncertainty that will have such long-lasting impacts on our town," he said.

Patch has reached out to Deputy Mayor Josh Reinitz and Councilwoman Gail Rottenstrich for comment. They are the incumbent Democrat candidates in the race for Fair Lawn council.

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